One of the oldest signers of the Declaration of Independence, New Jersey’s John Hart was one of six signers in their 60s at the time when he signed the docket that would forever make him an enemy of the British King. Benjamin Franklin, at 70 years of age, was the oldest Signer.
Although it differs in other sources, Hart’s official Congress biography cites 1713 as the year of his birth. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut but the family moved to Hopewell Township New Jersey when he was young. Records show he was baptized at the Maidenhead Meeting House, now the Presbyterian Church in Lawrenceville, the son of Captain Edward Hart, and grandson of John Hart, a carpenter from Long Island who had settled in Hopewell.
Like most men of that time and circumstances, Hart was not formally educated, but did read, write and do math. He was known for being a man of common sense and was recognized as someone who knew the law and was familiar with business matters and money. He married Deborah Scudder in 1741, and the couple had 12 children before her death in 1776.
A property owner both on his own and with his father, Hart purchased a 194-acre Homestead Plantation in what is now Hopewell in the late 1730s. He donated a large portion of it in 1747 to the Baptists, who wanted to build a church in a convenient spot in the area. He was a Presbyterian, and this endeared him to the Baptists in the area, who appear to have supported him later when he ran for office. Until well after the revolution, the area was thereafter called Baptist Meeting House.
Hart first entered public life in 1755 when he was named Justice of the Peace, earning him the title of Esquire and giving him the authority to act in minor legal issues and county business including tax collector audits.
He was next elected to the board of freeholders for Hunterdon County and later elected to the Colonial Assembly for New Jersey serving in that capacity until 1771. He was named to the local Committee of safety and the Committee of correspondence and gained the nickname of Honest John after he became a judge in the Court of Common Pleas.
Hart was elected to and served as vice president of the provincial congress established in New Jersey in 1776, the group that replaced the First Continental Congress for New Jersey which had been established earlier. That Congress opposed independence and was replaced by the provincial or Second Continental Congress. Just one month before the Declaration was introduced in Philadelphia, Hart was named one of the New Jersey delegation with full rights to vote and sign the Declaration of Independence.
Hart served on the Congress until August, being one of the first to sign the Declaration before leaving to be named Speaker of the newly formed New Jersey General Assembly.
When the Revolutionary war started, and the British advanced into Hunterdon County by December 1776, Hart had to seek refuge to escape the British and hid out in the Sourland Mountains. But his farm was raided and damaged by British and Hessian troops. The patriot was able to return home when the Continentals captured Trenton.
Two years later, the night before Washington and his Continental Army of 12,000 men accepted Hart’s offer to occupy and make camp on his farm before going on the next day to win what has been termed the turning point of the Revolution.
Hart was still serving in the Assembly in 1778 when he returned home one night, indicated he was ill and suffered for six months before dying May 11, 1779 at his home in Hopewell. He is buried in the Old School Baptist Meeting House, the church cemetery to which he had donated his land several years before.
John Hart died owing money. Due to the shortage of hard money, depreciation of colonial money, and a glut of land on the market as Loyalist land was confiscated and sold, most of his property was sold for a pittance.
The obituary in the New Jersey Gazette at that time read:
On Tuesday the 11th instant, departed this life at his seat in Hopewell, JOHN HART, Esq. the Representative in General Assembly for the county of Hunterdon, and late Speaker of that House. He had served in the Assembly for many years under the former government, taken an early and active part in the present revolution, and continued to the day he was seized with his last illness to discharge the duties of a faithful and upright patriot in the service of his country in general and the county he represented in particular. The universal approbation of his character and conduct among all ranks of people, is the best testimony of his worth, and as it must make his death regretted and lamented, will ensure lasting respect to his memory.
Congressman John Hart Brewer a New Jersey Congressman in the late 1800s, and former House Majority leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland are descendants of the Signer from New Jersey.
Roadways named after Hart include Hart Boulevard in Flemington, Hart Avenue in Hopewell, and Hart Lane in Ringoes. His home still stands in Hopewell at 60 Hart Avenue. OIt is a private residence and not open to the public.
Read About John Hopkinson, another New Jerseyan who signed the Declaration of Independence HERE
